Tube



C. A. TOME Oct. 7, 1941.

, TUBE Filed Oct. 2'7, 1959 lNVENTOR (QI ZCZQZEJ A J5me I v PatentedOct. 7, 1941 umrso STATES TUBE Charles A. Tome, Wilmington, Del. fApplication October 27, 1939, Serial No. 301,517

'6 Claims. This invention relates to a collapsible container. Theinvention particularly relates to a tabricated dispensingcontainercombining a dispenslng head, a flexible tubular member, and anadvantageousmethod and means for uniting them.

The fleld oi collapsible dispensing tubes is at present dominated bymetallic containers, which are usually made of tin, lead, or aluminum,or

, combinations of metals, and are substantially one piece, either beingintegral or so made by soldering or'the like. Such containers areentirely satisfactory with non-corrosive substances, but are entirelyunsuited to act as containers for other materials. It has been proposedto make such tubes out of materials, such as regenerated cellulose, forinstance, by spirally windingstrips or regenerated cellulose and gluingthe overlapped portions. Such tubes have a disadvantage that they arenot'continuous, and tend to split at the seams. All :such tubes havealso been unsatisfactory because no wholly satisfactory method ofjoining the collapsible body to the rigid head has been invented. It hasbeen proposed, in U. S. PatentNo. 2,002,718, for example, to form arigid head and to draw overthat head a tube of smaller diameter lockingthe two in place with a metallic ring. Thereare several objections tothis construction, among which is this that pressure applied to thecontents tends to separate the tube metal except when such tubes areused for noncorrosive materials, and which can be used with materialscorrosive to metallic containers. Another object is to produce a tubehaving a head of any desirable shape and a body portion conforming bothto the size and shape thereof. Another obiect of the invention is toform a dispensing container having, other than a circular shape out of acircular tube. Another object of the invention is to form a connectionbetween the body portion of a flexible tube and the head which becomesmore tightly sealed as pressure is applied.

The objects of the invention are accomplished by the invention which isherein described and which involves, generally speaking, a flexibletube, a perforated head having a flange or skirt, and a compressionmember to hold the tube against the skirt.

(o1. sci-e) panying drawing and the attached specification,

but it is understood that this: description does not limit the inventionbeyond the scope of the appended claims. I In the drawing Figure 1 is adismantled view of an excellent form of theinvention; Figure 2 is apreferred form of my invention, shown in section. Figures 3 and 4 areviews in section and from above, respectively, 01' the locking disk usedin th form of invention shown in Figure 2..

In Figure 1, III is a tube of material, such as regenerated cellulose,which can be extruded in a manner similar to the method which is usedfor the making of sausage casings.

any satisfactory flexible material; H is ahead having a neck portion 12and a flange or skirt l3; I4 is a bore extending completely through thehead so that the contents of the tube can be forced out through th neck;I 5 is a groove in the inner periphery of the skint I 3. The head ispreferably made of some strong plastic material which is highlyresistant to corrosive materials. it is a locking ring or head having aflatface I5,

I l' of the head, and having a circumferential ring l1 iorcooperationwith the groove l5. In assembling this construction the tube I0 isproperly seated within the skirt l3 and the ring I6 is forced intoplace, locking the tube between the ring I1 and the groove IS. The ringI! may be integral with the member It or it may be a separate memberseated in a groove therein. In ordinary cases it will be satisfactory ifmade integral with the 38 member 16.

The tube can also be bonded to the head by a suitable cement if desired,in which case a lockingdmember of less pressure "can sometimes be use Ina great many instances it is unnecessary to make the locking ring largerthan the skirt in order to obtain proper sealing. Usually a sufficientlytight closure is effected by using a locking ring of the same sizeas'the interior of the skirt, since the tube itself will furnishsufficient locking action. In some instances, where a tube ofconsiderable thickness is employed, it is desirable to use a lockingring of less diar'neter than the inside of the skirt.

in Figures 2, 3, and 4. In these figures, 5| is a dispensing head madeof appropriate material; 52 is a skirt on the head; 53 is a circulargroove in the head alined with the inner side of the The invention willbe illustrated in the accomskirt 52: 54 is an annular groove in theskirt This tube can be made of cellulose acetate, of papenor of whichwili preferably contact with the fiatface A preferred form of theinvention is disclosed I Just below the groove 53; I! is a portion ofthe head acting as a shoulder; 8! is an annular disk having convex formand made of some material suc as compressed fiber having considerablestrength and resilience; i1 is a hole in the center of the disk; 58 areslots in the edge of the disk.

I Another. method of describing the invention is to say that the head,Ii or II, has a cavity formed by skirt, l3 or 52, which is enlarged bythe groove.

In assembling this form of thejinvention a tube of appropriate material,having a circumference equal to that of the interior of the skirt 52, isinserted in the head and made to project into the groove 53. A springdisk, as shown in Figure 3, is then inserted in the tube and pushed intothe head until it is emplaced in the groove It. The disk is then sprungby pressing upon the center thereof so that its curvature is reversed,as shown in Figure 2. In this position it abuts against the supports 55within the head forming a lock which cannot be broken by attempts topull the tube from the head. The reason for this is probably that a pullon the tube 58 is transmitted around the shoulder formed bythe lowerangle of the groove so that the largest component thereof istransversely of the tube rather than longitudinally. This transversepull tends, therefore, to increase the existing curvature of the diskrather than to decrease it. That tendency to increase the curvature isprevented by the support 55 so that the tube can be separated from thehead only by actually crumpling the disk, which requires a far greaterforce than would ever be applied to the tube in normal operation.

When pressure is applied to the tubes of the dispensing containers of myinvention the increase in pressure within the tube forces the lockingmember more tightly against the tube and the skirt of the head so thatthere is an increase of sealing rather than a tendency to separate. Sostrong is this sealing that the full weight of a man has provedinsuflicient to break the joint between a tube and its head. This isparticularly advantageous in connection with substances which tend todry out in the neck of the container on standing.

The dispensing heads can be made of artificial resins ofphenol-formaldehyde type, vinyl resin type, cellulose plastic type,methyl methacrylate type, of hard rubber or of any other material ofsuflicient strength and sufilcient resistance to the corrosive action ofthe particular material which is to be contained in the tube. member canbe made of the same or of different material. It is obvious that,although the invention is of particular value with the materials Idescribed, the invention is not to be limited to a particular material.In each instance the shapes of the conforming members will be so chosenthat they make the best use of the materials selected.

An advantage of my invention is thatnon-circular tubes of substantiallythe same head and body size. can be made. Another advantage bf theinvention is that a two-part tube is produced in which the applicationof pressure tends to seal rather than to separate the Joint. Anotheradvantage of the invention is that a tube of a non-circular containercan be made from a circular tube. Other advantages of my invention, willbe in part apparent and in part elsewhere herein set forth.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Serial No.280,456, filed June 22, 1939.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is to beunderstood that I do not limit myself to the specific embodimentsthereof except as defined in the appended claims.

1. A non-metallic dispensing container having a comparatively rigidnon-metallic dispensing head, a flexible non-metallic tube, and means toJoin the head piece and tube, said head being perforated'to permit theextrusion of the material within the tube and having a skirt with agroove about its inner circumference, said means to Join the head pieceand tube comprising a locking member having a perforation in alinementwith that of the head and having a protruding ring locking the tubewithin the head in cooperation with the said groove. q J

2. A dispensing container comprising a com paratively flexible tube anda comparatively rigid head having a depending skirt, a circumferentialgroove in the skirt, and means to force the tube into the groovecomprising a reversible, convex locking piece.

3. A container comprising a comparatively flexible tube, a comparativelyrigid head having a cavity to receive the tube with an interiorcircumferential shoulder formed by an enlargement of the cavity andmeans to Join the tube to the head comprising a locking piece of limitedflexibility and of normal size greater than the least circumference ofthe shoulder, whereby the seat- The locking ing of the locking piecewill warp a portion-of the tube about the shoulder.

4, In a container a relatively rigid headhavv head comprising aresilient disk for holding the tube in place by warping it around theshoulder whereby forces acting parallel to the axis of the tube arechanged to a direction radial thereto.

6. A container comprising a flexible tube, a head having a cavity inwhich the tube is received, said cavity being the diameter of the tubenear its mouth but of larger diameter thereabove, and means to force aportion of the tube into the enlarged portion or the cavity and to holdit there, whereby to lock tube and head together.

CHARLES A. TOME.

